Wiesenthal Center Denounces Destruction of Torah Scrolls and Desecration of Synagogue in Iran

The Simon Wiesenthal Center denounced the vandalizing of the Hadash synagogue in Shiraz, Iran.

“Reports are that holy scrolls were destroyed and prayer books stuffed in toilets. While anti-Semitic hate crimes happen the world over, we are deeply worried by this attack on the tiny Jewishcommunity in Iran, a tightly controlled theocracy,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action of the SImon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish human rightsNGO.

“The Iranian regime daily expresses its genocidal hatred for the Jewish State, promotes Holocaust denial and funds terrorist organizations targeting Israel. It’s hateful rhetoric and policiesfuel anti-Semitism at home and around the world. Still, the Jewish community will have no choice but to rely on authorities to investigate this ominous hate crime,” Rabbi Cooper concluded.

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the UnitedStates. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).